Eventually I laughed…….

Hey all,

Hope you’ve been well. If it seems like it’s been awhile since I blogged, then you’re right…..it’s been ages! I do apologise for that and hope you missed me just a smidgeon.

It’s been an eventful couple of months I must say. After my last post, I got sick. Very sick. Unfortunately I came down with a chest infection, the likes of which I hadn’t suffered from for many many years. My doctor was quite concerned but once we eliminated Covid, 😱😱 (despite having many of the symptoms), the diagnosis was a bad chest infection and low grade fever. Through various tests we discovered that I was also critically low in iron and vitamin D. In fact the doctor said he’d never seen a patient with a zero in vitamin D in their blood test result.

A zero!!

Now, admittedly I do spend a lot of time indoors and live like a hibernating bear most of the time, but zero?! 😳 No good, said the doctor with a sad and emphatic shake of his head. No wonder I was so sick and completely exhausted. All I wanted to do was sleep but the elephant sitting on my chest squashing my lungs wouldn’t let me. Then, to make matters worse, while this was happening, I had sharp, throbbing pain begin shooting through my left hand, continuing relentlessly for several days and not simply restricting my movements but preventing any at all.

Now what? 😵‍💫

One CT scan and one X-ray later and we have the diagnosis that the arthritis I have in both knees and shoulders has now spread to my left hand.

Yay me 🎉😟

For a writer, this was bitter news and I didn’t take to it well. In fact, in complete honesty, I was pretty pissed off.

So, long short short, I was out of action for several weeks. With the many new meds the doc put me on to deal with these issues, it took a little while to get well enough to the point where I didn’t feel like a truck had gleefully reversed six times over my supine arthritic body. And tooted his horn as he did so. But, it took a even longer to get out of my own head which was full of “woe is me” and “I only have one arthritis-free limb left”…. Have I told you before that I can be my own worst enemy? Seriously, I was ridiculously deep in my overblown melancholy – can any of you relate? It was only as I started to get some energy back and the pain meds kicked in (hoorah 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉) that I seemed to regain my mental balance. Definitely the lack of iron and vitamin D affected my mood in ways I never knew it could. I think I once read something somewhere about vitamin D being a mood enhancer? Or was that chocolate?

So now….new and extra medicines (with new side effects) new physiotherapy exercises and doctor’s orders to see the sun and give up the vampire life. 🙄 You will now often see me sitting outside in my backyard for ten minutes at my little table setting, face up to the weak autumn sun and meditating.…and looking weird, no doubt. Luckily, my neighbours don’t ever peek over the fence. (I think)

And the thing that made me the grumpiest over the whole situation…..my new roller study desk/iPad holder. (Think hospital food tray trolley but cooler because it’s black). I tell you, I hated that thing at first. 😤😤 A bold and annoying reminder that I am no longer allowed to hold my iPad in my hands EVER if I want to prevent further damage. Not so easy to break a years-old habit and I slip up constantly but I’m getting there. Its only redeeming feature is that it makes a great coffee cup holder.☕️

The upshot of this little saga…….I fell behind schedule in all life and writerly tasks and am now trying to catch up. 🐢🐌

One of the things I’d only just begun working on and thinking of Pre-Sickie days was merchandising. Yep, merchandise. As in cool stuff to own. 😃Those of you who follow me on Facebook may remember I sent out a survey asking what kinds of items you’d like to see and I had some great suggestions, many of which I should be able to achieve. Funnily enough, the moment I got back to this task, it turns out one of my most favourite people in the world had just opened her own merchandising shop! Haha…..great minds, as they say. 💖 She’s now generously holding my hand through the process and I couldn’t be more grateful as digital stuff is not a strength of mine. I’ve said it in the past but it bears repeating and often – I am surrounded by the kindest, most supportive friends and blessed everyday with their presence in my life. May you all be as fortunate that way too. 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼.

So…..my WIP……….

A:) Merchandise that you will hopefully love (coming very soon!)

B:) My first fanfic in quite a long time!

Teaser: it’s a sequel to a previous one

C:) As yet untitled Book 3 of the Unbreakable Series

D:) Organising a new Giveaway

Make sure you’re signed up for email notifications so you don’t miss any of the announcements. I can’t wait to show you👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

So for now,

Much love,

Zelly ❤️❤️❤️

PS…..and yes, I did eventually laugh at my circumstances because Lord knows, I have it far far FAR better than many others. I just had to kick my own butt. 🙃🙃